Gibb’s talk was entitled ‘The Physical Future of Open Source’. The talk was a primer on Open Source Hardware and the future possibilities of communities working together. In her talk, she said: “The more we band together, the more the world becomes open source. If we dream of an Open source world, the world includes physical products. We need to be thinking more holistically. ”

Alicia Gibb talks open source hardware

“For this open source future to happen, combining open software and open hardware, we need help from all communities asking themselves is there an open source alternative out there? when wen working on projects”, said Gibb.

Gibb talked about suspending reality and the future of open source hardware

Gibb talked about “atoms vs. bits” and the difference included in source from hardware to software: “Currently the open source hardware community doesn’t include the atomic layer in their source, for example where the copper comes from. When we talk about the source of hardware, we suspend reality a bit to include the important parts of the source to recreate the hardware, but raw materials are not considered something worth listing by the open hardware community at this point.”

She spoke about the future of open source hardware. “With more research, 3D printers could print entire components, or turn into desktop chip fabs – if people can create chips at home, they will share files and the IC industry will need to open source chips to stay relevant, whereas currently almost all ICs are closed.”

OSHWA is grateful for the opportunity to spread the word that open source hardware has a definition, a certification mark, and open hardware options exist in the world.